In connection with the Democratic National Committee, the DNC’s Unity Reform Commission met in Las Vegas on October 19, 2017. The URC will next meet in Washington DC at the Marriott Wardman Park on December 8 and 9, 2017 and then will prepare its specific recommendations, which will first go the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee, and the 2020 delegate selection plan will then go to the full DNC for approval. The URC co-chairs prepared an updated memorandum (below). The video of the meeting should be uploaded at the DNC’s URC page. I tweeted from the meeting @Demrulz, but here are some of the meeting highlights.

The URC first heard from a representative from New York’s election office, who explained their process – they have a closed Democratic Primary (no independents) and a voter has to register as a Democrat about a year in advance. The problem is complicated by having presidential primaries in the spring and state parties in September. They also have a process where there are multiple parties, who can nominate the same candidates. It’s important to recognize that the DNC has a limited role in fixing state processes – it doesn’t control the state legislature and has limited control over party actions. But it certainly can set standards and work with state parties to open and simply their processes and encourage greater voter participation.

The URC then discussed some ideas for providing standards for caucus processes and addressing barriers to participation. Finally, The URC discussed various party issues relating to DNC membership, budget, diversity, and concerns about state party “accountability.”

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